Improvement in sewing-machines for sewing leather



E. E. BEAN.

Sewing Machine four Sewing Leather.

Patented Feb. 9, 1869.

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n minus lemmi-l,nn-ummm. wnshmgmmuc UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ED'WIN E. BEAN, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOE TO DAVID WHITTEMORE, yOF NORTH BRIDGEWATER, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES FOR SEWING LEATHIER.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 86,632, dated February 9, 1869.

To all persons to whom these presents may come:

Be it known that I, EDWIN E. BEAN, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Machinery for Sewing Leather or other Material; and do hereby declare the same to be fully described in the fol-` lowing specification, and represented in th accompanying drawings, of which Figure l is a vertical and longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 a vertical and transverse section, of a sewing-machine containing my invention, the same being what is termed a wax-thread sewing -machine,77 to perform chain-stitch sewing with a single thread.

My present improvements relate particularly to the cast-off and to the mechanism for varying the eccentricity of the crank by which the needle is moved. I have what may be termed a self-adjusting cast-off;7 as it will always rise to its highest position with the needle,`whatever the elevation of the needle may be. It is well known that as the material to be sewed may increase in thickness, the needle has to be adjusted to rise the higher. As the cast-off obtains its motionfrom the needle-carrier, the devices applied to the castofi to enable the needle-carrier to move have had to be adjustable; and whenever the mechanism for moving the needle-carrier has been adjusted so as to cause the needle to rise either higher or lower, as circumstances might require, a corresponding adjustment has had to be made of the parts for effecting the movement of the cast-off, all of which has been and oftenis a'very troublesome matter. With :m y improvement, however, after the parts for moving the cast-off have been once adjusted no further adjustment becomes necessary, as the cast-ofi', in rising with the needle, willalways attain to correct terminal altitude, whatever may be that of the needle. I

Furthermore, by my invention, the adjustment of the eccentricity of the operative crankpin of the needle-carrier can be easily effected, and this is all the adjustment that need be made to adapt the needle to pass the proper distance through the material, whatever may bethe thickness of the latter.

In the drawings, A denotes the stand or frame of the machine, B being the bed-plate, on which the leather rests while being sewed. This plate forms a part of thefeeding mechanism, and is moved by the lever It, hereinafter described.

The awl is shown at C, the needle at D, and the rest cast-off at E.

As my invention has no reference to the awl or its operative mechanism, neither needs any further description, nor will it be necessary forme to give any explanation of the mechanism for feeding the material along, as all these are or may be such as are well known and in common use in machines of this description, and generally known by the naine of wax7 or waxed-thread sewing-machines.

The needle-carrier is exhibited at F as applied to a vertical slide-block, G, in whose rear side is a cam-groove, a. (See Fig. 3, which is a rear-side view of such slider.) Into the said groove a a crank-pin, b, carrying a frictionroller, c, extends. This crank pin projects from a slide-plate, d, applied to the outer face of a cam-wheel, H, in such manner as to be capable of sliding down vertically therein.

Fig. 4 is a front view of the cam-wheel H with its slide-plate d. This wheel H is fixed on the end of a long tubular shaft, I, duly supported in bearings of, and having a gear-wheel, g, fixed on its outer end. This gear g engages with a larger gear, 7L, which in turn engages with a pinion, z', fixedon the main drivingshaft 7a of the machine. There extends through the shaft I, and concentric with it, another shaft, lc', which is supported so as to be capable of being revolved within the shaft I. There projects from the inner end of theshaft la a crank-pin, l, which enters a straight slot, m, made transversely inA thefslide-plate cl.. On the outer' en'd of the shaft 7C there is a spring arinf or index, o, provided with a point, p, which may be setl in any one of a series of holes made at suitable distances apart in a circle on the outer face of the gear g. By turning the shaft 7c the slide-plate d may be moved lengthwise, so as to vary the eccentricity of the crank-pins b, or the distance of its axis from that of the wheel H, which corresponds with that of the shaft I.

Thus it will be seen that as the eccentricity i' vertical slide-rod, K, on which is an adjustable collar or ring, q, which is held in place by a clamp-screw, r. Underneath the collar, and encompassing the rod K, is a short helical spring, s. This spring rests on a short adj ustable arm, t, extending from the needle-carrier. Furthermore, a projection, u, from the slider of the needle-carrier, while the latter is in the act of descending, strikes at the proper time on the top of the collar q, and forces it and the cast-oif down with the needle.

On the cast-off carrier rising upward the top of the collar q will be brought up against the head /v of the stop-wire L, arranged as represented, and thus the further ascent of the cast-off will be checked.

It will also be seen that the arm t, which elcvates the cast-off by pressure upward against the spring s, will, with the needle-carrier, be allowed by such spring to rise, so as to carry the needle to the altitude required. From this it will be observed that the spring s performs a very important function, viz., that of allowing the needle to be elevated after a stoppage of the cast-off, such being novel in sewing machinery of this kind.

In order that the cast-off may rise under the action of the spring without the latter being unduly contracted, and afterward be held irmly up to the work or material to be sewed, while it may be necessary to so hold it there, I employ a friction-brake and mechanism for throwing it into and out of action at suitable times.

Heretofore it has been customary to have a steady friction or pressure on the castoff carrier; but this will not answer when the spring s is employed, as the force required to overcome such, in order to effect the elevation of the cast-off, would cause the arm t to condense or contract the spring s too much for its safety.

I make use of an intermittent friction apparatus, which I now shall proceed to describe, and which produces friction on the cast-off carrier, to hold the cast-off up when at its highest altitude, and afterward removes the friction, in order to enable the cast-off to descend and subsequently to be raised by the means hereinafter described.

In the drawings, M denotes a slider or brake, which is a straight pin or bolt, having a pad, x, on its inner end, or that next to the castoff carrier. The brake M slides freely and horizontally in the stationary arm N, by which the needle and cast-off carriers are supported.

A stud, y, projecting from a lever, o', constitutes a part of the usual feeding mechanism, as represented, and has a screw, z, screwed through it. This screw, at the proper time, is to be moved by such part of the feeding apparatus against the brake, so as to force it against the cast-off carrier. At a suitable period the screw z is to be moved away from the brake.

The lever R is jointed to an arm of the lever o', the latter having an arm provided with a pin, which enters the cam-groove a of the cam-wheel H, a rear view of which is shown in Fig. 5.

The cam, while revolving, works the lever,

and thereby effects, through the same and the lever R, intermittent reciprocating movements of the feed-plate.

I am aware that in the machine invented by William Butterfield, and patented July 4, 1854, a spring is employed to act on an arm projecting from the cast-o carrier, such spring being projected from the lever by which the needlecarrier is operated. The said spring, however, only pressed the cast-oif down upon the leather to be sewed, however such might vary in thickness.

There was no stop-wire used in Bntterfields machine to operate with the spring', as the stopwire L of my machine operates with the spring s.

In my machine the stop-wire determines the extent of motion of the cast-off, which rises up to the leather, in stead of being forced down upon it, as it is in Butteriields machine.

I use an awl and its operative mechanism, arranged over the work or material, and have the needle and cast-off disposed below the work, and thus the stop-wire becomes a necessity with the spring s, which, in my machine, allows the needle to have such a range as to pass its barb entirely up through the leather, whatever may be its thickness.

I therefore make no claim to the use or employment of the spring s without the stopwire and the awl and its operative mechanism.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as constituting the same is as follows:

l. I claim the combination and arrangement of the shaft 7c', crank-pin l, and slotted slide-plate d on the same, and the index o, with the needle crank-pin b and the shaft I, the whole being to enable the adjustment of the eccentricity of the crank-pin b, to be effected for the purpose of causing the needle to pass its proper distance through the leather or material to be sewed, whatever may be the thickness of the same.

2. I also claim the combination of the stopwire L with the spring s, or its equivalent, and the cast-off, awl, and needle-carriers, pro vided with mechanism for operating them, substantially as described.

3. I also claim, in combination with thev cast-off carrier and its i'rictionbrake, or the equivalent of the latter, mechanism foi in erating the said. brake, or its equive1ent,as termittently opera-ting the said brake, or its and for ille purpose specified. equivalent, for the purpose specified.

4. I also claim, in combination with the cast-off carrier, the spring s, and the friction- Witnesses: brake of such carrier, or the equivalent of R. H. EDDY, such brake, mechanism for intermittently 0p- SAMUEL N. PIPER.

EDWIN E. BEAN. 

